Friday June 6, 2008 (Day#18)
48 Km. 12 hours. We left Lazul toward Guarongo at 9:30 am. Crossed the Paute Valley and up towards the old road of Herradura until we could se teh Cuenca Valley. This view will accompany us for teh next couple of days. We rode through the trails that the smugglers used years ago to bring merchandise from Peru and Loja.
It is suprising the amount of vegetation with such clay soils. After many extra hours of riding that were originally not planned because we didn’t expect such difficult terrain, we arrived to the Aguarongo Reserve. With funds from Spain and the collaboration of the community the primary forest in this reserve is well preserved. They also educate the local rural communities and offer accomodations and turism.
All the Electric and water system works with solar panels. The reserve has 2 thousan hectares at 3,200 mts above the sea level.
A nice hot shower and the serenity of the paramo helped us recuperate teh energy. I rode my new horse (Jorge Condo) to Paute then switched to Pinto.
Hacienda Tortorillas
